Thousands clean up for Earth Day
PLASTIC PLAGUE: Tonnes of waste were removed from beaches, harbors and tourist attractions for the event, whose theme this year is ‘End plastic pollution’
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 22, 2018
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
People yesterday clean up a beach in Penghu County during an event organized by the Penghu Environmental Protection Bureau. Photo: CNA
To mark Earth Day today, thousands of people nationwide yesterday joined cleanup
efforts to promote the idea of reducing plastic use.
Established in 1970 by US environmentalists, Earth Day has become a global event celebrated annually on April 22, and this year’s theme is “End plastic pollution,” the US-based Earth Day Network said on its Web site.
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) led about 1,000 people, including Environmental Protection Administration Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), to clean the city’s Syucuo Harbor (許厝港) and Jhuwei Fishing Harbor (竹圍漁港).
A total of 3.4 tonnes of garbage and 600kg of recyclable waste was gathered from the beaches, while 630.7kg of trash was collected in the harbors’ waters, with plastics constituting the majority of the garbage, the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection said. [FULL STORY]
